tim's journal

Mesothelioma and the law, an academic perspective

Deborah Hensler is a professor of law at Stanford University and co-author of a number of Rand studies on asbestos litigation. In a semi-recent article published June 2002 in the Texas Law Review, she states that "at least 500,000 asbestos workers and their family members have brought claims against one or more defendant corporations." That's a lot of people. Through 2000, U.S. insurers have paid more than $20 billion to resolve claims. Estimates of the final cost are as high as $200 billion.

The chart below shows the number of claims filed against five major companies. You can probably guess where we are now - four years later.

The problems in the U.S., though, are no match for those in the UK. The BBC recently reported that "more than 500,000 non-domestic premises currently contain some form of asbestos." 5,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases in the UK each year.